A Chance to Own a Home for $1 in a City on the Ropes
By STEVEN YACCINO, NYT
GARY, Ind. — As a tower of black smoke rose above this blighted city last week, a group of neighbors huddled across the street from a burning house, trying to guess which other vacant properties on their block would be arsonists’ next target.
“There’s so many,” said Tasha McMiller, 50, a resident dismayed by the estimated 10,000 abandoned homes here. “They’re a burden.”
Officials say that a third of the houses in Gary are unoccupied, hollowed dwellings spread across a city that, like other former industrial powerhouses, has lost more than half its population in the last half-century.
While some of those homes will be demolished, Gary is exploring a more affordable way to lift its haggard tax base and reduce the excess of empty structures: sell them for $1.
(More here.)
GARY, Ind. — As a tower of black smoke rose above this blighted city last week, a group of neighbors huddled across the street from a burning house, trying to guess which other vacant properties on their block would be arsonists’ next target.
“There’s so many,” said Tasha McMiller, 50, a resident dismayed by the estimated 10,000 abandoned homes here. “They’re a burden.”
Officials say that a third of the houses in Gary are unoccupied, hollowed dwellings spread across a city that, like other former industrial powerhouses, has lost more than half its population in the last half-century.
While some of those homes will be demolished, Gary is exploring a more affordable way to lift its haggard tax base and reduce the excess of empty structures: sell them for $1.
(More here.)
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